That's great... But what about the customer?

I spend a fair amount of time on LinkedIn having a nose around to see what's happening in the world, it's an interesting place.

Every day there are posts about achievements, promotions, certifications, conferences attended and new frameworks learned. People are excited about what they've accomplished and rightly so. Learning new skills, gaining fresh perspectives and celebrating success should be encouraged.

That's great... But what about the customer? What always strikes me though is how rarely the conversation comes back to the customer. The customer is, after all, the reason most organisations exist.

For every new model, process, strategy or transformation programme, there should be a simple question sitting quietly in the background: How does this improve the customer experience?

Did the customer feature in the thinking behind the achievement? Will the customer feel the benefit of the change Will it make it easier to buy, easier to get support, easier to do business with you, or easier to stay loyal?

Too often we become focused on the activity itself. We celebrate the project, the training course, the workshop, the technology or the process improvement. We become immersed in what we've done rather than why we've done it. That's understandable. Success feels good and new knowledge is exciting. But the real value of any improvement is realised when it creates a better outcome for the people we serve.

The next time you complete a project, learn a new methodology or implement a new idea, take a moment to connect the dots. Ask yourself: What does this mean for the customer? Because when you can answer that question clearly, you've moved beyond simply achieving something. You've achieved something that matters.